of lafayette



LG. B. RiCH.

Freight-Car Door.

Patented Mar.19,1867.

Witnesses:

Inventor.

citen taire strut ffice.

G. B. RICH, OF LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. Leners wenn No. 62,972, ma March 19, 1867.

IMPROVED DOOR FOB. GRAIN RAILRGAD GARS.

@the .',Stlgehule metta tu in tlgctt ttttett ateat mit mating awt nf ille sami.

TO ALL WHOM I'I..MAY CONCERN:

Bc it known that I, G. B. RICH", of Lafayette, in the county of Tippecanoe, and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Grain Door for Railroad Cars, andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- I"igure 1 is an elevation of one side of an ordinary box-car, showing thc'doorway with my improved innerV or grain door attached.

. Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section ofthe same, showing by full lines D the position of the grain door when not in use.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the gr'o'oved irons J.

Like letters indicate corresponding part-s in all the figures.

Great quantities of grain are wasted' while in transit on the western railroads ou. account of the inciiicient or defective doors of the cars. The object of this invention is to `guard against this great loss; and its nature consists n providing the ordinary tight box-car, such of them, at least, as are designed for transporting grain, with a substantial inner or grain door, to be attached to the car by linked rods or chains, so as to constitute as much a fixture to the car as the outer door, the said grain door being provided at each end with a sliding plate, which enters a groove in the door post. y

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and operation. v

'I make the door D to reach from one post P to the-'other without binding. I attach, by two screw-bolts a, to the outer face ot' the door at each end, an iron plate, p. Theplatcs are slotted to receive the bolts a, andare so hung as to reach one-haltl inch, more lor less, when ,thrown out, beyond the ends of the door plank. 'lehese plates are connected together by the toggle-jointed levers b and d, which are pivoted together, and also to the plates. There may be a stop, as shown by the dotted lines s, fig. I, xed to-the face of the door, to prevent the lev'ers from dropping below a. straight line; and, if desired, a self-acting spring'may. be so arranged as to catch and lock the levers down. I attach an iron plate, J, to ea'ch door post, to reach as high from the floor as necessary, to receive the grain door, these plates being grooved vertically, as shown at g in 'g. 3, which is a transverse section otl one of the plates. The grooves receive the sliding plates p, thereby efcctually sealing those ljoints. The lower edge of the door may be provided with a narrow apron, to act as a packing for that joint, by the grain holding the inner edge downv upon the ear floor. The door may be connected to the car by one or more jointed rods it, or by chains, as shown in the drawings. When the door is to be removed it is only` necessary to raise the levers b and d in the centre; and, it' the car is loaded, the door will be forced to swing outward, when it may be rolled up on the rods or chains n, and placed in the position indicated by the full lines D', under the roof of the car, where it will'be held by the rods and a suitable button or swinging latch or bolt. A door made and operating in this manner entirely obviates the necessity of nailing boards across the doorway, which latter plan is almost sure to leak grain more or less, and frequently to a ruinous extent. The grooves g, in the iron plates p, may be rolled in at the foundry. There might be a secondary lever hung to the centre of the door, and the llevers band d connected to it, one above, and the other below, its axial point. In this arrangement, by raising thecnd ofthe connecting or auxiliary lever, the-plates p would be withdrawn, and 'vice versa. Or, there may be a pivot-bolt-put in the centre of one plate, and a short lever attached to the other plate, which would produce the same effect.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The application ot' the sliding jointsplates p to the grain doors of railroad ears, substantially in the y manner and for the purposes herein shownl and described'.

2. Connecting the said joint-plates by means of the pivoted levers b and d. substantially as'and for the purposes set forth.

3. Suspending the grain doors ot railroad cars by jointed rods a, or chains, or any equivalent device,

- hereb thev ma be fastened u out of thc wa when not re uired for use. w y y p y q c. B. RICH.

Witnesses:

WM. S. Louounonoucn, P. T. Tonnen. 

